Solar radiation that incidents on the Libyan land represents practically unlimited reservoir of clean and inexhaustible energy. There are only few solar energy applications in the country, mainly for domestic water heating, telecommunication stations, and some individual houses far away from the central grid. This paper discusses the economics and reliability of distributed solar, photovoltaic, PV, power generation for the scattered towns, villages and individual homes, in the Libyan Desert, and to compare it to the central grid and diesel engines that are usually used to supply electricity to some of these towns and villages around the country.

The growth of modern megacities is accompanied by a significant increase in the annually generated volumes of municipal solid waste. The main method of their disposal in Russia at present is the removal of waste to landfills. Uncontrolled emission of biogas generated in the body of the landfill as a result of anaerobic fermentation of biomass leads to the release of a number of gaseous components into the environment, including toxic ones, as well as spontaneous combustion of landfills. In addition, biogas should be considered as a valuable energy product, the use of which can play a significant role in local energy. This paper presents the results of a feasibility study of the landfill gas power plants operation. We have made the calculation of annual methane emissions at the Yadrovo test site. The text provides a comparison of gas turbine and gas reciprocating units when working on gas fuel with low methane content. The paper considers two potential solutions to the problem using traditional power plants. The work describes the principle of operation of such power plants, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. In order to assess the economic efficiency, the present value of electric energy is calculated. Data are obtained on the cost of kWh at various power generating units, as well as the cost of installed kW of power of the power plant. The energy potential of the Yadrovo landfill is estimated at 365 MWh per year, in turn, the average Moscow resident consumes 250–300 kWh per month, that is, such a power station can provide 100 people with the necessary electricity per month. The paper discusses the experience of using landfill gas power plants abroad. The conclusion contains recommendations, as well as the main problems of using landfill gas, the advantages and disadvantages of power plants with gas piston and microgas turbine power units. Information is also provided on the release of landfill gas at landfills located in different geographical locations: Moscow, Vladivostok, Kamphaeng Saen (Province in Thailand). Thanks to these data, there is a clear correlation between the climate zone and the population of the nearest settlement with the release of biogas. The specific parameter of biogas output, that is, the amount of landfill gas received from one square meter of the landfill, is taken as the main parameter for estimating the yield of landfill gas.

The interaction of hydrogen with metals is the main process of at least two areas of scientific research. One of the research directions is hydrogen energy. The second one is the development of effective coatings with the aim of keeping hydrogen atoms in the near-surface layer of structural elements for various purposes. The paper shows the process of creating a physical and mathematical model of the hydrogen permeability of electrochemical alloys synthesized by electrolysis depending on the level, sign, and nature of the distribution of internal stresses. We have analyzed the causes, nature and levels of internal stresses of various physical nature. Diffusion flows are shown through the external surface of a hollow cylinder depending on the sign of internal stresses. The diffusion of hydrogen atoms through a cylindrical shell with impurity traps is described by a non-stationary equation under the corresponding initial and boundary conditions. The choice of such a model system is due to the fact that cylindrical shells are the most common structural elements, and the complication of the mathematical model would not lead to a change in the qualitative picture of the concentration field of hydrogen atoms. For the fields of hydrogen atom concentration, we have used the corresponding analytical dependences which are the basis for mathematical modeling of diffusion processes and demonstrate the ability to control the hydrogen permeability of metals. The hydrogen permeability of a hollow cylinder primarily is shown to depend on the level and nature of the distribution of internal stresses (tensile and compressive). Internal stresses with a logarithmic dependence on coordinates have a single mathematical description, and using the superposition principle allows you to display a picture of the joint interactions of internal stress fields of various origins. When describing diffusion fluxes, two approaches are used. In the first approach, taking into account internal stresses that change the diffusion equation reduces to the introduction of some dimensionless parameters that are easily calculated, while using the principle of superposition, their algebraic summation is allowed. This allows parametrically controlling the internal stresses of different physical nature. The second one allows us to describe a mathematical model of the diffusion process of hydrogen atoms in a medium with the formation and decomposition of fixed metal − impurity − hydrogen complexes, taking into account the probability of their formation and disintegration.

The effect of surface area and polarity ratio of ZnO support on the catalytic properties of CuO/ZnO catalyst for methanol steam reforming (MSR) are studied. The surface area of ZnO was varied changing the calcination temperature, and its polarity ratio was modified using different Zn precursors, zinc acetate and zinc nitrate. It was found that the copper dispersion and copper surface area increase with the surface area of the ZnO support, and the polarity ratio of ZnO strongly influences the reducibility of copper species. A higher polarity ratio promotes the reducibility, which is attributed to a strong interaction between copper and the more polar ZnO support. Interestingly, it was observed that the selectivity of CuO/ZnO catalysts (lower CO yield) increases with the polarity ratio of ZnO carriers. As another key result, CuO/ZnO_Ac-375 catalyst has proven to be more selective (up to 90%) than a reference CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ sample (G66-MR, Süd Chemie). The activity of the best performing catalyst, CuO/ZnO_Ac-375, was assessed in a Pd-composite membrane reactor and in a conventional packed-bed reactor. A hydrogen recovery of ca. 75% and a hydrogen permeate purity of more than 90% was obtained. The Pd-based membrane reactor allowed to improve the methanol conversion, by partially suppressing the methanol steam reforming backward reaction, besides upgrading the reformate hydrogen purity for use in HT-PEMFC.

The paper focuses on multi-objective optimization of heat sources which aims to provide reliable and safe heat supply to consumers and minimal environmental impact of heating facilities. This is a structural optimization problem of a non-linear discrete nature which is difficult to formalize. The generally accepted approach to solving the problem of urban heating system development is usually reduced to a single-criterion problem of finding the minimum discounted costs for the designed energy facilities of the system subject to a great number of constraints. The environmental protection measures, in this case, are the assessment of environmental damage caused by the energy facilities and a related charge for emissions of air pollutants. The study indicates that there are other methodological approaches, in which, in the case of a single-criterion problem, the other criteria do not lose their significance and can affect greatly both the optimization process and the solutions obtained. A brief review of such approaches is presented, and the epsilon-constraint method is proposed which allows maximizing the total effect of measures aimed at protecting the atmosphere within the funds allocated to the city. The dynamic programming procedure is used to obtain a set of solutions (optimal sets of measures), each of which corresponds to some level of costs not exceeding a certain upper limit. The algorithm of the epsilon-constraint method applied to solve the problem is described. The proposed method is used in a case study of a real urban heating system. This method made it possible to obtain an effective solution with a specific list of technical and atmospheric protection measures for heat sources and heating systems. The proposed methodological approach can find practical application in feasibility studies and in the studies on the development of urban heating systems.

The strategy for the development of rural areas until 2030 is determined by the decree of the RF Government and significantly depends on the level of energy supply to agriculture. For agricultural producers, the average price of 1 kWh is higher than in the city and is about 10 cents per kWh. This increase is due to the low density of loads (an order of magnitude lower than in the city), low density of worn-out power grids, long low-voltage networks with large losses and high operating costs. In terms of energy consumption, the specifics are due to the use of outdated technologies in rural areas, the presence of additional needs other than urban ones, low electric power of rural life and a higher burden on family budgets. As a result, rural energy requires the development of special energy technologies in terms of generation, transmission, distribution and consumption. The requirements for energy supply and reequipment of agriculture are estimated taking into account the growth of energy tariffs caused by the deterioration of long worn (over 1 million km) rural networks of 6-10 kV. The solution to the problem of power supply to the village can be largely solved by the development and application of autonomous power supply systems (APPS) which can be both alternating current and direct current and a line of capacities of 0.1; 1; 10 MW, respectively, voltage of 0.4 kV, 1 kV and 6-10 kV. Taking into account the most promising solutions using RES, APPS on DC with the use of electricity storage devices are preferred. Various options for the implementation of APPS using unconventional cryogenic energy modules (CrEM), hydrogen (on fuel cells) types or bioreactors, as well as the traditional type in the form of diesel generators, gas turbine and gas piston plants are considered. A comparison of the energy efficiency of different media and shows the advantages of using hydrogen in the fuel cells, and then liquid nitrogen in the composition of the CrEM before the electrochemical accumulators in the composition of LIA. For use DC in objects of APK, it is advisable to use mobile modular substation (MMS), united KL instead of the strip VL is not only because of the greater bandwidth, reliability, but also because of the greater resistance to technogenic, natural influences, improve the environment and mobility of container substations. The article describes the structure of MMS in the form of mobile lifesupport complexes which allows to provide consumers not only with electricity, but also with heat, cold, technical and drinking water, and for year-round cultivation of fruit and vegetable crops with air flow and adjustable lighting spectrum.